Our Scotland trip was amazing! All eight of us girls had the incredible opportunity to serve alongside local missionaries Bob and Melissa Hill, assisting them on various projects throughout their castle, Overtoun House. We worked hard scrubbing and painting the castle walls, chopping trees and helping them out in any way we could. We were also able to speak at their church and two of our girls shared their testimonies. The people there are incredibly kind and welcoming, and we noticed along the way that they are all starving for hope and truth. It was a special time for us to share our faith with strangers on the streets, trains and the local skatepark as most people had no idea what a mission trip even was. We had some fun at the local indoor skate park passing out Walking On Water and Beyond Sight DVDs, though they weren’t too sure about a bunch of surfer girls trying to BMX! Overall, the trip was a huge success, and God worked through each girl on our team to share Jesus with those we met along the way. We hope to go back in the future to host a surf/skate outreach and to continue to share Jesus in a country that needs Him desperately!

Recently WOW hosted a GROM weekend for the girls and one for the guys! They were both super successful; here are some quick highlights from Katherine and Kyle:

About the GIRLS: The girls had so much fun together; we talked about “Spending yourself” out of Esther chapter 3. Specially, we talked about spiritual gifts. All of the girls took a spiritual gift test, which was fun, and helped them start thinking about their gifts and how they can use those gifts to “spend themselves” for others, and be the face of Jesus to those around them. We surfed, went to thrift stores, fellowshipped, and adventured all weekend long. We even had some time to meet up with the guys’ group at the campground! Overall, the girls were stoked and want to have a girls weekend every month!

About the GUYS: The GROM guys had such a cool weekend! It was great ministry, and great relationship-building with students. Everything ran smooth and all the kids seemed to leave having had a really fun time. We talked about prayer, and were blessed by having Clay Norian and Corey Colapinto share brief testimonies. We camped out all weekend and held “Grom Games” on Sunday morning: 15 minute Wavestorm surf heats followed by a wavestorm relay race and saltine cracker speed-eating, and Sprite-chugging contest. Pretty classic!

Overall the GROM weekends are proving to be a great blessing for both the girls and guys. We are excited to continue in the new year!

Last year Conor Beatty was finishing college and working as a high school youth group leader. A fellow leader suggested he get in touch with Walking on Water; he knew that Conor’s gifts and interests would be a perfect match for ministry with Walking on Water.

Conor took his friend's advice, got in touch with Kyle Lane, and jumped into one of the GROM weekends. That was all it took and Conor was hooked. At a season in life when Conor was really praying for specific direction, it seemed God was leading. Soon Conor got on board and helped with the WOW camps all summer long. “Working with kids through WOW really captivated my heart. God revealed to me that being at Walking on Water was what He was calling me to do right now, and I just couldn’t resist.”

Conor chose to continue to work with Walking on Water and is now working as the Assistant Camp Director next to Kyle Lane. He will continue to work with the GROM events, and assist with all of the camps again through this summer.

When he isn’t working with WOW, Conor loves to challenge himself on big waves. He recently entered the Nelscott Reef Big Wave Invitational in Lincoln City, Oregon and took a 2nd place finish.

Whether in his surfing or in ministry, Conor says that God has been teaching him patience. Learning to slow down and wait for God to lead can be difficult, but Conor is learning that the blessings make it all worth while.

“Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD.” - Psalm 27:14

One of the greatest challenges for us as Christians is to wait on the Lord. Many of us are willing to obey -- even challenging Words from the Lord -- yet when He tell us to wait…we can be a mess.

We are a stubborn people, and it doesn’t help that we live in such a quick-fix culture. With instant meals and instant messages, and instant everything it seems, (who else gets annoyed when Siri doesn’t find exactly what you need on the first try?) we are becoming more and more impatient.

So when we pray, we tend to want God to answer us instantly too.

And sometimes He does. Sometimes He says yes, and sometimes He says no. Yet sometimes God also says “wait.” So what can we do while we are waiting? How can we not get discouraged or find ourselves running ahead of God? First we can continue to pray steadfastly as we seek His will. We can read Scripture to see if He is revealing His heart through His Word. And then we can keep doing the last thing He has told us to do; faithfully serve Him while we wait for Him to answer our prayers.

Studying great Bible heroes can help us to learn patience: Noah obeyed the Lord by building a boat, and then waiting...until the rain came. Abraham followed God’s direction to move to a foreign land, and then waited to find out why. Jesus walked on earth as a man while even He waited on God’s perfect timing to fulfill His purpose on earth.

So we too must be strong and let our heart take courage. God has always been faithful and He always will be. And His timing is always perfect.

We are thankfully getting very close to finishing the Surfers and Cowboys movie! The story has been changing because of all that God has been doing in big wave surfer Aaron Gold’s life over the past year. We recently flew to Hawaii to film some of the remaining shots that we needed, including a reenactment of the day that Aaron almost lost his life in huge waves in Fiji. We still need to film a few important scenes with bull rider Zane Cook as well as raise the remaining funds needed to finish this movie. Sean Marin is busy editing and we hope to finish it by February 2017. To find out more about the movie or to make a donation please go to www.surfersandcowboysmovie.com

The PipeMasters is the Super Bowl of surfing. There is no greater event to watch in the world, than surfers competing at the best and most beautiful wave on the planet. With over 7 million core surfers tuning in to watch the live webcast of the PipeMasters, we decided to give away the Beyond Sight Movie to everyone watching the contest. The draw of Derek’s dream to surf Pipeline has continued to be a huge light to the surfing community as thousands have tuned in to watch his story. Through your support, we feel so blessed during this Christmas season to be giving away a gift that again points to Jesus Christ.

Thanks to your generous support the Beyond Sight commercial on the Pipe Masters live webcast had a huge impact! Each day people on the North Shore would tell us they saw our commercial and it opened up doors for us to share the Gospel. Over 500,000 core surfers from around the world watched the commercial and the Beyond Sight movie was seen by thousands of surfers in over 50 countries! Since 500,000 people saw the commercial and found out about the Walking On Water ministry we believe that we will continue to see the impact of the commercial in the coming months. Having a presence at the Super Bowl of surfing is exactly what the Walking On Water ministry should continue to do in future years!

Sean says that the filming process for Surfers and Cowboys has been an amazing privilege. “It has taken us from Southern CA, to Oklahoma, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, and Hawaii. Being a big fan of mountains, ocean, and nature, the process has been eye candy for me the whole time and has given me an opportunity to step away from film-making and just take in the sights and snap some photos.” (find Sean on instagram @sean_marin)

Working alongside Bryan Jennings always leads to adventure. When Surfers and Cowboys movie was just beginning, Sean tells the story: “One day I got a phone call, “Hey, do you want to go to Hawaii tomorrow to film Surfers and Cowboys?” The next day we landed in Hawaii and the next day I found myself sitting on the back of a bull, scared out of my mind! ‘Are you ready? You good?’ ‘NO, I’m not ready, NO I’m not good!’ Then the gate opened (cue music: Johnny Cash: I hurt myself today.) Nothing could prepare me for this! Thankfully I was surrounded by amazing professional bull riders keeping me as safe as possible and they had my back if anything went wrong.

Sean hopes people who watch Surfers and Cowboys will walk away seeing God is their Heavenly father who loves them and wants good for them! “For men specifically, I hope it encourages them to be brave, strong and humble leaders, willing to step out and overcome fears in their lives.”

As we are coming to the final stages of making this movie, we would appreciate prayer for spiritual protection, and creativity in refining the story. We also need prayer for the resources to finish the movie with excellence, for wisdom, and favor with the marketing and release of the film.

See the full interview with Sean Marin below:

Q: Why is making movies and sharing your faith important to you?
A: I get into a lot of conversations about what i do and that inevitably leads to “How did you get into that?”. The quick answer is: I worked at a Christian University overseas and was asked to head up a department around media. But it’s so much deeper than that. You know that thing in your life you do that makes your eyes come alive? For me that been sharing my faith in Jesus with people, to see that “Aha” moment happen in them. Filmmaking became the vehicle for me to share the gospel, to share stories that would heal, bring truth, life and honesty into people.
I can still remember the moment and feeling when I realized the power of stories. It was a star-covered night on the coast of Australia. I was in full time-missions at the time and I had just finished editing some short videos of skateboarders sharing their faith. I had a feeling this was more than a one-off deal. That night in the backyard i knelt down to my knees on the hard cobblestone patio, the grass next to me wet from the ocean air. I prayed — begged God to show me the value of “making movies”, and i would commit the next decade of my life to this craft. Then: BAM! It hit me right there: All the parables were stories that Jesus shared to communicate heavenly things and the gospel. Today our “parables” are movies, music videos, music, images of all sorts. The question to me was, “How are using these parables, and what message and story are we telling?”
Two of my life life-vocational verses are out of Ephesians 5. Verse 11,15-16: “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather expose them… See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
These verses call me back constantly to guide me in creating any content.

Q: Tell us about riding a bull during the filming of Surfers and Cowboys movie
A: If you ever get the opportunity to spend time with Bryan Jennings you’ll learn a few things. 1) He loves the Lord so much. 2) If the waves are good, he turns into a 14 year old Grom. 3) Get used to seeing God do things through him last minute and in the moment.
December 3rd I got a phone call, “Hey, do you want to go to Hawaii tomorrow to film Surfers and Cowboys?” December 4th we land, and December 5th somehow I’m sitting on the back of a bull in a chute, scared out of my mind! “Are you ready? You good?” “NO, I’m not ready, NO I’m not good!” And the gate opens (Cue music: Johnny Cash: I hurt myself today ) Nothing could prepare me for this, but thankfully I was surrounded by amazing professional bull-riders keeping me as safe as possible and they had my back if anything went wrong. I feel like this has been most of my experiences in life; I’m not ready for this, but Ok lets do this! And God surrounds me with the right people.

Q: Describe filming surfers and Cowboys movie.
A: The Filming process for Surfers and Cowboys has been an amazing privilege. it started as a small concept to be research for a Feature Narrative Film about a young bull rider and has taken us from Southern CA, to Oklahoma, Jackson Hole, Wyoming and Hawaii. Being a big fan of mountains, ocean and nature the process has been eye candy for me the whole time and gives me an opportunity to step away from film making and just take in the sights and snap some photos. (Find Sean’s instagram @sean_marin)

Q: Share one life lesson you hope people will get out of watching Surfers and Cowboys movie
A: I really hope when people watch Surfers and Cowboys they’ll walk away seeing God is their Heavenly Father who loves them so much and wants good for them! For men specifically, I hope it encourages them to be brave, strong and humble leaders, willing to step out and overcome fear in their lives.

Q: How can people be praying for you as you and the team finish the movie?
A: As we are coming to the final stages of making this movie some key areas the team and I need prayer in:
1) spiritual protection from those who don’t want this film made.
2) Creativity and patience as we refine the story to make the best movie we can.
3) Humble teamwork, yielding to the story and one another.
4) Resources to finish the movie with excellence. whether those be in the form of finance or donated time by talented professionals.
5) Wisdom and favor with marketing and releasing this film.

“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness but rather expose them… See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” -Ephesians 5:11, 15-16

Sean Marin returns to these verses often to guide him in making films. His passion for using story to share his faith with others began in a very special way. Sean shares his story:
I can still remember the moment and feeling when I realized the power of stories. It was a star-covered night on the coast of Australia. I was in full-time missions at the time, and had just finished editing some short videos of skateboarders sharing their faith. That night in the backyard I knelt down to my knees on the hard cobblestone patio, the grass next to me wet from the ocean air. I prayed -- begged God to show me the value of “making movies”, and decided I would commit the next decade of my life to this craft. Then: BAM! It hit me right there: All the parables... these were all stories that Jesus shared to communicate heavenly things and the gospel. Today our “parables” are movies, music videos, music, images of all sorts. The question to me was “how are we using these parables, and what message and story are we telling?”

Sean’s testimony offers us all inspiration as it reminds us that each of our lives is a story that sends a message to the world. And the question we should ask is: What is the message our lives tell? Are we walking in wisdom, redeeming the time? Let’s live stories that reflect the power of the gospel in our own lives.

The time has come to finish this special movie. Our team is working hard to finish the Surfers And Cowboys movie by February 2017! Over the next two months we will be filming a few final scenes with big wave professional surfer Aaron Gold and professional bull rider Zane Cook. The story will cover Zane’s intense journey to qualify for the world tour of bull riding and Aaron Gold’s desire to ride the biggest wave ever paddled into. We can’t wait to show you what happened…